Blackwater crash recovery

“As of now, all the songs we were ready to record had to be rewritten musically,” says frontwoman Syren Franco, whose Jamul-based Blackwater Prophecy was recording their second album earlier this year, a symphonic rock project with orchestral passages. “As we were setting up our momentum, one of the members was met with some very extreme circumstances. This affected all of us, and ultimately the decision was made to completely change the way this project would operate. However, it was not functional or efficient, and it did lead to the need for new members.”

Franco (the niece of música norteña composer Enrique Franco) says she couldn’t continue financing the band after members relocated away from San Diego, and selling off Wonder Woman comics via her eBay store wasn’t paying all the bills. “I joined a San Diego band called the Crash Recovery, which, in its short time together, has already accomplished goals that Blackwater Prophecy took several years to check off the list.”

With members portraying robotic musicians à la Steam Powered Giraffe and Satanic Puppeteer Orchestra, the theatrical electro-rock trio has little in common with her previous ensemble. “The Crash Recovery is more electronic and ambient, so the Crash Recovery is to Blackwater Prophecy what A Perfect Circle is to Tool. The lyrics are less aggressive, more poetic. There are three of us — guitar, synth, and vocals.”

So far, the Crash Recovery has recorded several singles (“We’re trying to release a single every one or two months”), including “Oracle” and “Buffering,” and is working with producers David Bottrill (Tool) and Erich Talaba (Yellowcard) for an upcoming EP release.

According to Franco, “Blackwater Prophecy is not going away, and I hope to work with these producers on the next album, but it’s such a crawl to get there since I’m the sole financier. The band will most likely make its comeback next year, but I’m unsure how it will exist by then, whether it will have primary band members performing or if it will be all session performers helping me carry out the vision of the collaboration of past members in new music.”

The Crash Recovery appears Friday, October 7, at the Bancroft in Spring Valley.